Given the points and yardage yielded, it’s strange to say, but I thought Grantham did a pretty good job yesterday, given what he had to work with: a defensive line that lacks a dominating player, a group of players that haven’t been able to shake years of bad habits defending misdirection plays and substandard safety play in pass coverage.

Indeed, I’ll go farther than that. In the first half, Grantham coached his ass off. For a considerable stretch, he had Auburn’s offense looking tight and confused. In Auburn’s first five series, he came away with three stops, including a turnover that set up Georgia’s second score. Unfortunately, Malzahn, like any good offensive coordinator, honed in on exploiting the flaws in Georgia’s defense and stuck with it. Beginning with their last drive of the first half, Auburn’s offense never looked back.

So yesterday was a confirmation of what I’ve seen from Georgia’s defensive coordinator for the past few weeks. I think he’ll get the defense back to a level we’d like, but it’s going to take time and better personnel in certain key spots than he’s got right now to reach that.

Yesterday was also a confirmation of sorts as to my impressions of Mike Bobo, who remains a study in frustration for me. There’s the sharp Bobo, the guy who’s obviously studied the opponent, found the holes in the defense and used the talent he had on hand to exploit them. The fourth-and-one call that resulted in Georgia first touchdown was a distillation of every good instinct in Bobo’s brain: a well designed play (between Orson and A.J., the safety was going to leave one of them in single coverage) that was called at a perfect moment.

But then there are the times when Sharp Bobo defers to Dogmatic Bobo, and we saw that yesterday when the Dawgs got the ball back in the second quarter leading 21-14. That’s the Bobo who reminds himself about things like time of possession, balance and number of plays run and forces his offense into an ideological straightjacket, because there’s a book on what an offensive coordinator is supposed to do to be successful and it’s important not to stray from those principles.

The thing is, Auburn’s defense has its flaws, too. The single worst unit I saw on the field yesterday was the Tigers’ secondary. As Danielson noted, they literally couldn’t cover A.J. There were several pass plays during which you could see on replay that Georgia had multiple receivers running open. And Murray was getting decent protection for the most part. The strategy there should have been to stick with what was working in the first quarter (at one point, Murray’s average yards per completion was an eye-popping 21.3) and damn the time of possession and number of plays stats. But that’s not what Bobo elected to do, and Georgia’s scoring pace slowed considerably from that point forward through the rest of the game.

I’ve always believed that the first rule of being a good offensive coordinator is to take what the defense gives you. In his heart, I think Bobo believes that as well. The difference is that he doesn’t trust his judgment enough to stick with it for an entire game. That’s what separates him from a coordinator like Malzahn. In the end, I think it’s the biggest (although not the only) reason for yesterday’s loss. And the question for Mark Richt is whether he can get Sharp Bobo to convince Dogmatic Bobo to take a hike.

56 responses to “A tale of two coordinators”

up 21-14 i remember turning to my friend saying we have to turn it up a notch which would have been difficult seeing as how we were on 10 up until then. I knew if he started to run into the line that we’d give it back, they’d score and it’d be all over.

it was so frustrating to see him do that. especially after what was working to open up the game.

Being that I’m not a great analyst of the game, I’m glad to hear your continued optimism on Grantham. I’ve loved the attitude, and have felt all along he has the chops to be the kind of coordinator UGA wants and needs, but its nice to have my thoughts reinforced as we’ve moved through the season.

When everything was rolling for us on offense in the first quarter, the pessimist in me came out. I just felt that was as good as Bobo could call a quarter. Everything was working. I hoped Bobo would stick with it. Then I saw the Wilddawg rear its ugly head. I knew at that point we were in trouble.

It seemed to me that Ealy was the superior RB yesterday. However, they kept giving the ball to King for the majority of carries.

To start the second half with an onside kick was the game changer. I don’t care what CMR says. They are responsible for having those guys ready. Just because you happen to mention “Hey you guys watch for an onsides”, five minutes before kickoff doesn’t mean they listened.

Taking a knee before the half is EXACTLY what I expected. I understand he wanted to get into the half without a turnover and get the ball to start the second. However, we had one minute and a timeout. We could have tried to get a FG. This is the mentality that just kills me. We had a long discussion last week about playing to win and playing not to lose. You guys tell me what he did in this game.

The problem is that in every game, but ESPECIALLY yesterday’s game where you knew it was gonna be a shootout, each possession is extremely important. So ANY possession that you just run the clock out is throwing away something of high value (unless you’ve got like 10 seconds left and you’re on your own 20). Your line of thought above isn’t “wrong”, it’s just extremely conservative. A coach who is playing to win instead of not to lose will not think “Well, we’ll get the ball to start the half, and hopefully go up by one score”. A coach who is coaching to win will say “If I can get us down anywhere on our side of the field and give our excellent kicker a shot at a long FG, and we make it, then we can get the ball first in the second half and potentially go up by TWO scores”.

That’s the difference between a killer instinct and trying to not make mistakes. Yes, sometimes when you go with your killer instinct, you still make mistakes, but at least you tried, and there was a chance for something big to happen in your favor. In yesterday’s game, we literally had NOTHING to lose……..yet still didn’t play or coach that way, at least at the end of the first half. There was no reason to not take a shot at getting the ball down the field there, in my opinion, though we’re all certainly entitled to our own opinions.

I think Richt still has a little bit of the Willies also. You’re correct that earlier in his career he would have played it a little more open. However, lately (last few years) the risk part of the risk/reward ratio has been much higher. If his gamble failed somehow, the defense couldn’t bail him out. This has crept into his thinking and will take a while (and a shut-down defense) to get it out of his system.

Statistically what I am about to say will not stand up to scrutiny, but this is the worst defense I have ever seen at UGA. Not taking a shot at CTG, and I fully recognize he hasn’t had time to recruit his own players, or get the players fully trained on his 3-4 scheme, but I can never recall feeling more helpless than I have this year.

We cannot stop runs between the tackles, we cannot hold contain on the corners, we cannot cover the short possession passes, we get beat deep, we fall for every play action fake or reverse we see, and when we need one player, to make a big play…..no one steps up……ever. Have we made a stop on any play, of any drive, that mattered this year?

Over the years, I always remember a player busting through and stuffing a play for a loss, or causing a fumble. Or it might have been the big sack, or the diving interception, or the incredible leap to break up a pass in the end zone. One of those “Dawg people” seemed to be there enough times that I always felt hope in the closing moments of a big game. Not so this year.

I never felt we could stop anyone this season, and basically, we haven’t….at least when it mattered. Hell, I rarely even see one of our DBs in the picture when big passes are thrown. How can we get beat deep when we give 6-8 yard cushions on short throws? How can we stand more people up in the 3-4 and still never get anyone but Houston to bring pressure on a QB?

Sorry for the rant, but we went into this year expecting to have a problem stopping the inside run but offsetting that with more blitzes and penetration to force errors. The only thing I have seen thus far is losing the ability to stop the inside run (yeah, I know what we lost there). We are no better at getting pressure, or confusing anyone, or covering anyone than we were. All year I have felt we were boys playing with men. We get shoved around by every big-boy team we play. I want someone to get mad and do something besides running their mouths like little teen-age punks.

And never forget… part of Bobo dogma is to always (ALWAYS) call an ill-timed Wild Dawg play. Has that formation ever done ANYTHING positive for us, aside from the opening series at Okie State last year?

The problem with Bobo’s genuflecting at The Alter of Run-Pass Ratio is that neither King nor Ealey have true game-breaking talent (Tech ’09 notwithstanding). They run hard, but they’re not going to outrun most SEC safeties, and even some linebackers. Their 7 yard runs are 20 yarders for the Lattimores, Demps, and Richardsons of our league.

I don’t have the technical expertise to criticize Bobo so I will bow to your observations.

I can tell you that when Auburn turned up the offensive pace, our defense became an order of magnitude less effective…it’s hard to work a new scheme when you don’t have time to work.

The game was effectively over when we were forced into a field goal in the third quarter.

Everybody I know who watched or went to the game thought this.

Which makes Chizik’s histrionics on the sidelines even more confusing….maybe he does not know enough to know when the game is effectively over, I have watched Awbun all year and I am just coming to the conclusion that Chizik may be a weasel.

I, too, have been impressed with Grantham. I really like what we’re doing with our scheme. The last couple weeks, we’ve done some different things (4 CBs in the game, playing Ogletree as a spy/essentially a 7 DB formation, etc.), as if we’re finally getting into the back half of the defensive playbook.

I also thought we tackled very well yesterday.

I know we gave up a lot of points, but you have to give Grantham some time.

Aside from bringing in Branden Smith to run the wildcat one play, I didn’t think he did anything different in the second quarter. It’s just that it wasn’t as effective. Looking at the play-by-play at ESPN backs that up.

Agreed. The Branden Smith play had been set up all year and it didn’t work. Every time we were in that formation we ran the sweep to the strong side. Yesterday he faked strong and went weak…Auburn made a good play. IF that play worked yall would have just found another play to whine about. I know plenty of Auburn fans who hated Malzahn last year but wouldn’t trade him for the world now. Everyone is on Bobo because we are 5-6. Our offensive play calling was good enough to beat Florida and Auburn. Crucify me for saying it but it’s not like we lost 49-7!

“And the question for Mark Richt is whether he can get Sharp Bobo to convince Dogmatic Bobo to take a hike.” I’d say “No” since the Dogmatic Bobo looks a whole lot more like the offense FGJ used to run than the one the Sharp Bobo does.

People who don’t understand football will point to 31 points, or 6 games 30+ pts, and say Bobo is fine.

People who understand football see the situation for what it is: an OC who cannot be consistently relied on to get the offense doing what it needs to do.

We start every season slow, with the wrong people in the wrong positions. 2006 was a QB carnival nightmare. 2010 we should have let Murray do more earlier. That along might have given us 2 wins.

We needed to do SOMETHING offensively in the 2nd quarter. Anything to keep pace, give the defense a break, etc. Instead, we did nothing.

Timid Play: In the last 2 games, we have shriveled up badly in certain situations.

End of the half vs. Auburn. 1 minute to go, 1 timeout… we run out the clock? We don’t even try to get a FG so we can go into the locker room with a lead?

Momentum is HUGE in football. Everyone knows that. After getting down 21-7, going into the locker room tied was basically going into it with a lead for Auburn.

End of 4th quarter vs. Florida: Again, running out the clock instead of trying for a winning score. Pathetic.

We don’t play to win, we play not to lose. We lack a killer instinct on offense. We lack an identity. Bobo seems to always fall back into some kind of set of rules as you mention Senator, and as a fan you can generally see it coming before it happens.

Well, Senator, I agree with your comments completely, although I am not able to express them in as well-informed a fashion as you have. I do feel that CTG gets a mulligan this year in that (1) we knew it would take time to instal a new D; (2) we knew that he was not inheriting the ideal players for it; (3) even so, our D’s attitude on the field this has been far better than the spineless, bend-over-and-take-it that was the signature of Martinez’ last years here.

I do think we should expect substantial improvement next year, especially when it comes to not buckling in the final quarter which brings me to my current monomania: the need to pry Van Halanger loose from our S&C program is every bit as great as was the need to fire Martinez a year ago. Our guys are giving up too much when the game comes down to the wire. And our O-line, so vastly over-rated as “one of the best in the country” just 3 months ago, is paying for his incompetence as well.

As to Bobo, I do see the dilemma that you pose in that we’ve seen some excellent calls from him this year. BUT, almost invariably, when the game is on the line, he will wet the bed with abortions like 3rd & 4 against Arkansas, or that witless call he gave Murray yesterday just prior to our field goal – which was itself a confession of failure, that Bobo could not be trusted to make the right 4th down call in a game where it had become obvious that our D simply had no stops left for the Auburn O. So I think he should be demoted; let him coach the QBs but we need a REAL OC and a second look at why we have a former receiver coaching RBs and vice-versa is in order also. This has been a rough season to watch because it could have been a much better one, we all realize that. Our guys have had some bad breaks but they have also suffered from severe undercoaching at times. The good news is that they have been competitive in every game. I know that seems like clutching at straws compared to where we want to be but you gotta start somewhere.

Criticism of Bobo in this game is major league nitpicking, the guy is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t with many, the bottom line is we scored 31 points and had over 350 yards of offense, I think everybody pretty much conceded coming into the game that the odds of us keeping up with Auburn’s Offense + Newton were pretty much none. We needed multiple turnovers and/or stops from the defense, we got 1 turnover and no stops in the last 40 minutes of the game, ballgame right there. The CBS crew through up an interesting stat about Auburn last night, they have now won 64 straight games in which they score 30 points or more, that is how it should be, we on the other hand have lost multiple games in the last 5 years in that exact situation because we have had no defense. You look at the South Carolina-Florida game last night, the difference between that game and our game with Florida is that South Carolina played defense and we didn’t the offensive production was essentially the same for us and USCe against the Gators. Most folks didn’t say a whole lot about Bobo when we scored 41, 43, and 44 against UT, Vandy, and UK earlier in the year the verdict was that the offensive performances were generally good, I would point out that NONE of those performances would have been sufficient last night. When you give up 49 points and 450 yards to an opponent you will lose 99% of the time and that’s what happened last night, last night is on the defense. I haven’t made up my mind about Grantham yet, I know he inherited a hell of a mess from Willy Mo and I’ve seen some improvement but if we still see results like this from his defense at the end of next year his ass should be fired.

In retrospect maybe someone who coaches a conventional 4-3 should have been hired. It was a reach to think that, with the problems on D from last year, asking the kids to learn a new scheme on top of re-learning fundamentals which had gone by the wayside under CWM would be easy. Every defensive scheme has its strengths and weaknesses. The 3-4 is not the magic solution to all the problems on D that many of us thought it would be. The defensive problems last year were actually problems in execution, which is what really needed to be fixed. That said, CTG needs to be given a fair chance to put a D together with his own players. Job 1: Find a dominating NG. Search all good JC programs in the nation and get the right guy here for next season or we will basically be looking at the same things we saw this season all over again. I think bailing on TCG or the 3-4 prematurely would be a big mistake. In short, CTG should stay as long as CMR is HC. If CMR leaves though, all bets are off.

Good points, I think we’ve seen bona fide improvement this year in many areas on D, I think Grantham is at least competent if not great. Akeem Dent, Marcus Dowtin, Darryl Gamble have all shown great strides this year under the new regime, I have no doubt that had Willie stayed even a player like Dent who has turned out to be exceptional this year would have remained a footnote and un-notable player in UGA football history. Also, even though we got lit up yesterday at least Cam Newton lights basically everybody up, it is a wholly different thing to be torched by someone of his caliber than to be torched by a no name like Jonathan Crompton. We’ve been in every game this year and that’s a solid improvement as well, I just expect to see as much progress from Grantham this year to next as we have from last year to this year. If he can’t get a good noseguard in there then that should be taken into consideration as mitigation of the problem missing that kind of personnel entails but the blown assignments in the secondary and elsewhere should be drastically reduced in Year 2, if they aren’t that says to me that we still haven’t found the right guy on defense.

I wish I had a better feeling But to me the jury is still out on CTG. I see him with a lot of potential to be a good coordinator in the SEC but I am not convinced he is a better coach then CWM. I realize that may not be a popular statement but I am basing it on CWM full tenure as a coordinator not taking his worst year which has allready been surpased in losses by CTG.
I also believe the reason as you and others have stated that there record is not what it should be is poor decision making on offense even though it seems like our turnovers are down and we have scored more points on average this year then last.
Do you think Richt keeps Bobo or lets him go after the season. What does Richt need to do as far as wins and losses to keep his job next year?

i’m not willing to automatically grant that the 4th-and-1 td pass was bobo’s call necessarily. i haven’t watched the game again, but i remember seeing richt speaking to bobo in what i’d call a very direct manner in the moments leading up to the play. and after half-time didn’t richt say they had repped that play and was glad they had the guts to call it–i think richt may have lobbied for that play call.

regardless, i think the larger point about bobo is still basically right, although it’s possible you give him too much credit for being a guy whose intellect is at war with itself: the frustrating inconsistency we see could also be the product of a sloppy mind that doesn’t quite know what it thinks.

Face it the Offense brought a knife to a gun fight yesterday. Our t-model ford O could put up some scores on a terrible D backfield but after Auburn came roaring back the game was never in doubt. I like Mark but I think he will make a better missionary than head coach and the sooner he answers the call the better for UGA. We are just not ready to play in the big games any more. We have a staff that plays not to get blown out. The team talks a good fight but plays like Kentucky and that is what we have become, UGA now equals UK2. UGA has dug itself a deep hole and getting out will take years, with CMR or without him.

You’re right. Just look how many years it took Auburn to get from 7-5 to 11-0.

It ain’t the Xs and Os, guys, it’s the Jimmies and the Joes. We need more elite players. Bobo looked like a genius w/ Moreno. Van Gorder looked like a genius with Pollack. Malzahn looks like a genius with Newton. With Chris Todd? Not so much.

Shee-it! That’s chump change. I got me a commitment outa Brett Favre that once he really retires from pro ball he’ll be the number one recruit for quarterback at the University of Georgia! Cost me $1,000,000 but it’ll be worth every penny when we get that crystal trophy. What’s that? He used up all his eligibility at Southern Miss? DAMN! I paid him in cash, too! Suzanne, where’s my gun? Is Minnesota playin’ the Falcons at the Dome this season? I’m gonna get that son of a……………

Forget coaching. Officiating now determines who represents the SEC in the MNCG. Awbun just happens to be the latest beneficiary of the marketing policies of Slive and Wagers LLC.

South Carolina and Bama will need to play flawless, mistake free football to have a chance to beat this years SEC cash cow.

Phantom “celebration” penalties, 9 yard on sides kicks and blatant disregard for the rules by officials have now become the norm in critical SEC games.

By the way, in case you’re interested, Awbun committed one less penalty than their season average last night. Georgia, on the other hand, committed 5 more than their season average. Considering how dirty Awbun played, that was no small accomplishment.

It is really going to be fun to watch the reaction of the Bama fans now that the shoe will be on the other foot. Bama has been getting the benefit of iffy calls by the SEC refs for 3 straight years (Remember the LSU interception in the ’09 game that was ruled out of bounds even after review when the video showed the LSU DB clearly caught the ball in bounds?), not to mention all those years in the past when Bear Bryant was alive. The first Bama TD that gets called back for a phantom holding will set off a hue and cry the likes of which you have never seen or heard. And when Auburn goes for it on 4th and 1 and gets stopped short, but the official pushes the ball up and signals first down the Bammers will go absolutely berserk.

I think Grantham has done a good job overall. It is still a work in progress. Linebacker play has been the best we have seen in years. This Auburn team would have rolled 60 or 70 on last year’s crowd. Our safeties are killing us. I’d play anybody over Rambo. A safety that won’t hit or leave his feet is worthless. I’m glad Ogletree is getting more playing time. I think he’ll be a good one but he’s young. Our safety play is turning short runs into ten yarders and ten yarders into long runs.

Hopefully some of the redshirt freshmen can play. We need to go get some guys from the juco ranks. You have to recruit smart as well as fast. I fear we primarily look at speed over everything else that goes into making a good football player. You must have speed but you need football players who can make good decisions on the run. You may run a 4.3 forty but if you take a half second to make a decision you are now running a 4.8. If Sean Jones had been back there at safety our defense would be a whole lot better and giving up a lot less big plays.

Bobo is a mystery. Overall I think he’s done well since he decided to not be afraid of Aaron Murray. That third down throwback screen for a team that has trouble running screens was a bad call. Auburn did blow up the play by bringing extra pressure on the wide side which made Murray have to get rid of it too soon, but we have not been a good screen team in a long time.

“We need to go get some guys from the juco ranks. You have to recruit smart as well as fast.”

I think that those two might be mutually exclusive…what great athletes are to choose from in JUCO, anyway? Either ones who didn’t made the grades, or ones who threw laptops out of windows that you have to pay several hundred grand to sign.

I skipped all the comments, so I’m sure it’s been said, but I hate that I think “Dogmatic Bobo” is Mark Richt’s doing.

I remember when Richt first came to UGA, he said that being a HC changed his behavior as an OC. In essence, he observed that he became more conservative in his approach, whereas at FSU he was much more willing to let it loose or, as he put it I think “show off” (or something to that effect). I don’t want to think it, but I do think that Richt has a short leash on Bobo. Which, I’m afraid, means we won’t see “Sharp Bobo” as much as we’d like.

Richt sits in on the QB meetings & on the OC game plan meetings. You can continue to say I do not know football because I know that I do.Bobo is not the reason we have lost games the last 2 years. The defense is why we continue to lose these games. The O is not very good but the D is a lot worse. i more year for Richt & for Bobo & then both will sucessfully move on. Thenext HC will not do any better & probably not as well.

A friend of mine brought up an interesting point as we were walking away from Jordan-Hare yesterday. Maybe this “dogmatic Bobo” really is a little voice in his head, and I mean that literally. Do you think it is possible that Richt is the one in his ear about time of possession and balance? Obviously, there is no definitive way to know, but it certainly is a possibility.

Spot on agree with you Senator. One thing to add is that the O & D don’t exist independently…they need to help each other. 30+ points in the last 6 games is being shouted by some as proof that the O is fine. Our real record is 5 – 2 with 30+ points, but the wins include LaLa, Vandy, TN, KY and Idaho St. Most 5A High School teams probably score 30 in these games. The inability to keep up with fast-scoring offenses is a problem, even more so in the direction/trend of the college game. Sure, we need a shut-down D, but unless we’re going to become Missy St. (I wish?!) we need to keep-up with the times. The CMR offense of the 90’s is not sharp enough. M&M have the tools but not the imagination to dial this up.

CTG will get the defense going in 2-3 years with the right personnel, but without improvement in the O philosophy, we’re gonna waste the talents of Murry, T King, etc. as we’ve seen since 2005.

Look for Chizik’s name to start coming up in the play for pay scandal. His hands are indeed dirty and they won’t wash easily. Hate it for the students but the coach made a decision to play a professional athlete and knew what the potential ramifications would be. However, as he showed on the field towards the end of the game, he has a dirty streak that won’t clean up easily.

Dawgs have a lot more problems than CMB’s jekyl & hyde routine. I don’t know if there’s anything more difficult for a long established coach like CMR than having to re-build an organization. He’s just got to dump the deadbeats who aren’t producing. If it’s not assistant coaching, then it’s off field problems, or it’s questionable recruiting, or highly ranked recruits not developing. It’s always something. McGarity’s doing his part by watering down the schedule. Maybe they can bring in the dream team recruits – looks they’re going to need ’em.